Sidarec

SIDAREC recognizes the critical role that women play in overall development of societies especially in the developing countries. Women provide 70% of labour in rural areas and primary production industries yet they own only 5% of the land in which they work in. When it comes to leadership, women from the majority of the population but are the least represented in leadership and decision making process.

SIDAREC is keen in streamlining gender in her development agenda and the promotion of equal access to resources, opportunities and participation of women and girls in the slum communities.

Within the overarching objective of increasing opportunities, representation and improved access & ownership of factors of production by women, SIDAREC aims at achieving the following objectives

• To enable women and girls in slums access internet and computer studies at the community level

• To enable women and girls entrepreneurial skills so that they become income earners to support their families

• To improve women access to and ownership of factors of production in order to transform them from consumers of wealth to producers of wealth in line with Millennium Development Goal 1(Eradicating extreme poverty and hunger)

To create awareness and advocate for sexual and reproductive health rights for women and girls in the slums of Nairobi.

Newspapers and periodicals

Refernce Materials
This is a selection of reference resources available online.

SIDAREC community Library, the only library in the slums of Nairobi, serving approximately five secondary and 14 primary schools. The concept of a Community library was a response to the lack of a conducive-studying environment, which is miserably lacking in many areas within the country especially slums. The inadequate or lack of these facilities in the slums denies the community members especially school going children and young people reference and other reading materials, which enhances their knowledge levels.

Goals:

1. To improve standards of living in the community through accessing vital information and resources.
2. To promote library services in the slum areas. Mission Creating various channels of communication that will disseminate relevant information for community development.

Some of the objectives include:

1. To promote and sustain a reading culture amongst community members
2. To enrich the library collection
3. To publicize and improve the accessibility of the library Why the Community Library Image Oslo University College Students biding farewell to their hosts.

The Community library concept was conceived so as:

1. To create a conducive environment where youth and children would access reading materials and also study: This is because in the slums, people live in congested single rooms, which is not conducive for studying. The house is used like a kitchen, bedroom, living room and at times bathroom, making it difficult for one to concentrate with his/her studies.
2. To stock reference materials that can benefit the community members: Most of the children from the slums lack funds to purchase textbooks, which are essential for their studies. The library will serve as a reference point for many people in terms of accessing reference material in their respective field of study. A random survey revealed that, of all the people who wish to use the library, 60% are children in primary school, 28% are in secondary schools, 11% are taking skills development trainings in colleges and technical institutes while a paltry 1% are in the universities. Development of the Library The physical structure is already complete. The second phase was to stock the structure with books, which SIDAREC is continuously undertaking. The first donation of books was made possible through an organization in the USA (Books For Africa, which donated 25,000 copies of assorted books, mainly for tertiary institutions and fiction/story books). At the moment, the library lacks local contents that can pool the locals to read. We need pre-school, primary, secondary and tertiary books. We also need Kiswahili, African Languages and Oral Literature books. This will also create another opening for reaching out to the community with materials relevant to their education and development.

Given the risky social environment in which the children and youth grow up, it becomes increasingly important to put in place youth-friendly programmes/activities that will cushion them against the unesirable effects of growing up in slums environment.

SIDAREC seeks to help the youth address community vices as drug abuse and addiction, early pregnancies and abortion, STI and HIV/AIDS that comprise a major component of the social environment in which they live. it also address issues pertaing to youth capacity enhancement in terms leadership potential, policy advocacy on issues pertaing to social justice, as well as lobbying for youth employment as well as inclusion in the national development agenda.